Getting around in Japan by Train (Shinkansen) with JR Pass

Japan’s railway network is extremely convenient and highly efficient leaving no room for doubt about their service, punctuality, speed, and safety. In fact during the 12 days I was in Japan all trains left on the dot. Travelling by train is also the ideal way to view the diverse landscape across the country.

The JR Pass is a special ticket that is available only to travellers visiting Japan from foreign countries for sight-seeing. Like me, a lot of people start planning a trip after being lured into buying cheap promo air tickets. Don’t be surprised if you find out travelling by train in Japan can cost more than the air fare you paid!

We paid about AUD900 (inc taxes) return for two people from Sydney to Kansai on air travel but spent more than AUD1,200 on JR pass and train tickets. So, read on before you make the same mistake as me…

Which type of JR Pass to purchase?

The validity period of a JR Pass is the consecutive 7, 14, or 21 days beginning on the date the pass is first used. In view of this, you may want to plan your trip for 7, 14, or 21 days to get the most out of the value of the pass.

Secondly, location of the hotel is very important so that you can use your JR pass every day. It is a wise choice to stay near a JR station.

Thirdly, plan your interstate trip carefully if your whole travel duration is not exact 7, 14, or 21 days. For example, if you’re going to travel for 12 days in Japan, you may be able to just buy a 7-day pass and buy single tickets whenever you travel in the remaining 5 days. This is only workable if you don’t travel interstate or just travel within the region or prefecture in those 5 days.

An example, we arrived in Osaka and travelled to Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto and Tokyo. If we spent first 5 days in Osaka, Nara and Kyoto, we would be able to purchase 4-Day JR Kansai West Pass which only cost 6,000 yen for the first 4 days and buy single tickets or travel by bicycle in Kyoto on Day 5; use 7-Day JR Pass (cost 37,800 yen) from Day 6-12. That would only cost 43,800 yen in total compared to 14-Day JR Pass which cost 61,200 yen in total. That’s a saving of 17,400 yen. However, we booked all accommodation before looking into transportation. And it cost additional 34,800 yen for 2 persons. (That’s a price of a Tiffany’s necklace!)

Travel Tips: Always plan on how to get around in the country before buying air ticket or booking accommodation.

Who is eligible for a Japan Rail Pass?

You only can purchase JR Pass if:

The JR Pass is not sold in Japan, you need to purchase a ‘JR Exchange Order’ before leaving your country. You can find the JR authorized sales offices and agents from the Japan Rail website. When you arrive in Japan turn in your JR Exchange Order and obtain your JR Pass at one of the Japan Rail Pass exchange offices.

JR Pass Prices

JR Pass is quoted in Japanese Yen. The actual cost in local currency is calculated at the time the Exchange Order is issued. Note that the purchase exchange rate may differ from the exchange rate in effect when you actually visit Japan. Some JR authorized sales offices and agents reprice it monthly, weekly or even daily according to the currency exchange rate. As the exchange rate fluctuates from day to day, you may want to call a few agents < http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en005.html> before buying the JR Pass.

Having said that, don’t buy the JR Exchange Orders more than three months before your travel date. You must turn in your Exchange Order to obtain your JR Pass within three months from the date the Exchange Order was issued. At that time, you have to specify the date that you want to start using the PASS. It can be any date within one month from the date the PASS is received.

Validity of JR Pass

You can use the JR Pass on most JR railways, JR buses, and JR Miyajima ferry. Full JR pass coverage and the Map of JR lines are listed on Japan Rail website.

The JR Pass is not valid for any seats, reserved or non-reserved, on “Nozomi” trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines. You have to take “Hikari” or “Kodama” trains. If you use a “Nozomi,” you must pay the basic fare and the limited express charge, and for a Green Car the Green Car surcharge.

Nozomi is the fastest train in Japan with speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). Slower than the Nozomi but faster than the Kodama, the Hikari is the fastest train service on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen that is covered in the JR Pass. The word hikari means “light” in Japanese. The maximum speed of Hikari 700 series trains is 285 km/h. To give you some idea how fast is the train: the average speed of a passenger jet is about 400 mph, while a one-seat propeller plane may be 100 mph or less.

The trip between Tokyo and Shin- Osaka takes 138 to 153 minutes on Nozomi but 180 minutes on Hikari.

Travel Tips: Reserve your tickets before interstate travel so you guarantee yourself a seat in the non smoking sections if you are a non-smoker!

Coin-locker

Traditional checkrooms have almost disappeared throughout the country. Instead, coin-operated lockers (called “coin-locker” in Japanese) are popular in major stations. The biggest locker (which can fit 2 luggages) only cost 600 yen per usage/ per day. Additional 600 yen applies for overnight storage.

Travel Tips: The coin-locker is a life saver when you are travelling across the cities in a day or two. For example, you can deposit your luggage at Shin-Osaka station overnight, when you travel to and stay a night in Miyajima, then pick it up when you leave for Kyoto on the following day.

Useful Japanese words on ticketing

Reservation= Yoyaku; Travel Service Center=Ryoko Center;
Reservation office=Midori-no-madoguchi; Super express=Shinkansen;
Limited express=Tokkyu; Express=Kyuko; Rapid train=Kaisoku;
Local train=Kakuekiteisha; Ordinary car=Futsusha;
Green car=(superior accommodations)=Green-sha;
Reserved seat=Shiteiseki; Non-reserved seat=Jiyuseki
Platform = puratohoomu or hoomu (short form)

I used a lot ‘ichiban hayai’ (the fastest) at train stations.

Tags: Japan, Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 10:57 pm and is filed under Japan, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.